MORENO VALLEY: Pigeon Pass residents change name to Spring Hills

People living in a small rural enclave just north of Moreno Valley recently chose a new name to distance themselves from what they call the city’s “stigma.”

Property owners who voted on a name change for the area long known as Pigeon Pass also moved away from the community’s historic identity by choosing to become Spring Hills.

The wild, land-locked valley sits in a hilly, unincorporated area of Riverside County next to Box Springs Mountain Park. But residents and other property owners have had to use “Moreno Valley” as the city name on everything from letters to drivers’ licenses and legal property documents.

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They said they wanted to give the neighborhood an unofficial new name to disassociate from Moreno Valley’s problems with crime, gangs, loss of businesses, corruption and now a federal investigation involving city council members and others. Property values are beginning to fall in areas of the city where businesses have left, said 13-year resident Lydia Thompson, one of the vote organizers.

“We just want to separate ourselves from that stigma,” she said. “We don’t want to be negative. We just want to have our own special area -- because we are special.”

There’s only one way in and one way out of the area: Pigeon Pass Road heading north from Moreno Valley. The road winds up into an area surrounded on nearly every side by rocky brown hills, including Box Springs Mountain to the west. Horse trails cut through a land where llamas, goats, donkeys and Friesians are equally at home. Residents have gotten used to the sound of wild burros braying, roosters crowing and a neighbor’s quiet conversation half a mile off.

About 200 properties make up the enclave. About half of those have houses and residents, but owners of vacant land also could vote. Nearly 70 votes were mailed in to a post office box over a 30-day period and counted at someone’s house Saturday, July 13.

Talk about a name change first began a year ago, then got serious in February. Residents and vacant land owners had originally chosen from more than 20 names that ranged from “Pigeon Pass Heights” and “Butterfield Stage” to “Sage Canyon” and “Sweetwater Springs.” In the end, the names were whittled down to three: Pigeon Pass Heights, Pigeon Pass Valley and Spring Hills.

Some people, especially old timers, felt so strongly the area should hold onto its history by using “Pigeon Pass” in the name that there were some “heated discussions” about it, said Dick Jensen, who, along with his wife, Doloris, has lived for 23 years within sight of the historic pass that gave the area its name.

“Spring Hills” has historic significance because of the springs once used by great flocks of pigeons and other wildlife, as well as Butterfield stagecoaches in need of water for horses and people. Some people also thought the name sounded more connected to areas to the north and south called Spring Mountain Ranch and Hidden Springs, Jensen said.

While local residents know the city has plenty of attributes, relatives and other people from elsewhere in Southern California have a very negative image of the city, Jensen said.

“Moreno Valley does not have a good name,” he said.

The city has developed stigmas, but some can be blamed on what’s printed in The Press-Enterprise, said Mayor Tom Owings, adding he doesn’t object to a name change.

“I think that’s well within the community’s right to do,” he said. “The stigmas are there.”

The area’s official name won’t change. It can’t unless the local postmaster approves a change, which is unlikely with such a tiny population. But property owners can choose a neighborhood designation and get mail at a “Spring Hills” address as long as they use that name for the same zip code: 92557, said Thomas Ketcham, legislative assistant to Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries.

Moreno Valley will still be the official postal designation, and the preferred city listed on county property tax assessment rolls, said Michele Martinez, a manager with the Riverside County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder.

Residents said they won’t pursue an official change with the postmaster at this time. They’re working on a logo and then new signs for the neighborhood. Soon, a sign saying “Welcome to Spring Hills” will be put up on Pigeon Pass Road at Quail Call Drive.

Another motive for the change is to help unite people who may need to fight off Moreno Valley attempts to annex land for development to increase property tax revenue, said Jon Whitehouse, who began the name-change effort.

“I’d like to see this area stick together because we’re all by ourselves up here,” Jensen said.

Follow Suzanne Hurt on Twitter: @SuzanneHurt and online at http://blog.pe.com/city/moreno-valley/